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Sharing the season: Local boy finds it’s better to give than receive
  
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By STEFANIE THOMAS
There won’t be any presents under the Christmas tree for 9-year-old Keagan Hathorn this year, no stocking stuffed to the brim with little-boy treasures.
Sad? Not at all. In Keagan’s mind, a Transformer toy or a Nintendo DS is well worth the sacrifice, considering that a kid not quite his own age in China may taste fresh water and wholesome food for the first time in his life.
Keagan first met 7-year-old Li, so to speak, at a Christian concert just after Thanksgiving.
“I went to a Casting Crowns concert, and there were all those little blue packets in the seats saying, ‘Are you my sponsor?’” Keagan explained. “I took mine out and I found this kid that’s real poor. I felt really bad for the kid because he needs help. And the person on the stage said if your form gets thrown away, that kid may not get sponsored.”
Keagan’s mom, Laura Seay, of Kingwood, hesitated when Keagan asked her if she would help him sponsor Li, whose profile states that he lives in a rural community where clean water and health care are scarce. Li’s parents, according to the Washington-based Christian humanitarian organization World Vision, struggle to provide for the family.
“When Keagan first asked me to sponsor this child I said, ‘Not right now, money is tight,’” Seay recalled. “But about 10 minutes later he was still holding on to his package and he asked me what I got him for Christmas. I told him I hadn’t gotten anything yet. So he asked me, ‘Can I have Li for Christmas?’”
When Seay explained to her son that he would receive no other presents this year, Keagan readily accepted the deal.
“I heard that places like that, the poor places in China, they don’t have air conditioning and things like that, but we do, and I felt bad,” Keagan said. “So I sponsored Li.”
When asked if the prospect of going empty-handed on Christmas morning doesn’t bother him, the fourth-grader at Eagle Springs Elementary in Atasocita shook his head no. And when asked what goodies originally topped his wish list prior to meeting Li, Keagan said he doesn’t remember.
For Seay, the commitment to set aside $30 per month, indefinitely, to sponsor the Chinese boy didn’t come easy. As an employee of AIG, she said, an international insurance company that finds itself in the midst of the current economic crash, the future is uncertain.
“I don’t know if I’ll have a job in January,” she said. “But when Keagan asked like that, I knew he meant it. I couldn’t say no to that. He’s a pretty amazing kid.”
Meanwhile, Keagan is on a crusade to encourage others to give as unselfishly as he did. More than anything, he wishes for a sponsor for Cun Qi, an 8-year-old boy he believes just might be Li’s older sibling.
“The person that was sitting next to us at the concert had a person to sponsor, too, and both of [the profiles] said the same thing,” Keagan, who scooped up Cun Qi’s sponsorship package as well, enthusiastically explained. “I thought that was real cool. I think [Li and Cun Qi] are brothers.”
Seay said that Keagan has exhibited compassion toward others since he was a small child.
“He’s always been that way,” Seay said. “Don’t get me wrong - he’s all boy. But ever since he was very little he’s been in tune with other people and their feelings. He’s going to grow up to be a good man.”
WEB LINK
www.worldvision.org
Sad? Not at all. In Keagan’s mind, a Transformer toy or a Nintendo DS is well worth the sacrifice, considering that a kid not quite his own age in China may taste fresh water and wholesome food for the first time in his life.
Keagan first met 7-year-old Li, so to speak, at a Christian concert just after Thanksgiving.
“I went to a Casting Crowns concert, and there were all those little blue packets in the seats saying, ‘Are you my sponsor?’” Keagan explained. “I took mine out and I found this kid that’s real poor. I felt really bad for the kid because he needs help. And the person on the stage said if your form gets thrown away, that kid may not get sponsored.”
Keagan’s mom, Laura Seay, of Kingwood, hesitated when Keagan asked her if she would help him sponsor Li, whose profile states that he lives in a rural community where clean water and health care are scarce. Li’s parents, according to the Washington-based Christian humanitarian organization World Vision, struggle to provide for the family.
“When Keagan first asked me to sponsor this child I said, ‘Not right now, money is tight,’” Seay recalled. “But about 10 minutes later he was still holding on to his package and he asked me what I got him for Christmas. I told him I hadn’t gotten anything yet. So he asked me, ‘Can I have Li for Christmas?’”
When Seay explained to her son that he would receive no other presents this year, Keagan readily accepted the deal.
“I heard that places like that, the poor places in China, they don’t have air conditioning and things like that, but we do, and I felt bad,” Keagan said. “So I sponsored Li.”
When asked if the prospect of going empty-handed on Christmas morning doesn’t bother him, the fourth-grader at Eagle Springs Elementary in Atasocita shook his head no. And when asked what goodies originally topped his wish list prior to meeting Li, Keagan said he doesn’t remember.
For Seay, the commitment to set aside $30 per month, indefinitely, to sponsor the Chinese boy didn’t come easy. As an employee of AIG, she said, an international insurance company that finds itself in the midst of the current economic crash, the future is uncertain.
“I don’t know if I’ll have a job in January,” she said. “But when Keagan asked like that, I knew he meant it. I couldn’t say no to that. He’s a pretty amazing kid.”
Meanwhile, Keagan is on a crusade to encourage others to give as unselfishly as he did. More than anything, he wishes for a sponsor for Cun Qi, an 8-year-old boy he believes just might be Li’s older sibling.
“The person that was sitting next to us at the concert had a person to sponsor, too, and both of [the profiles] said the same thing,” Keagan, who scooped up Cun Qi’s sponsorship package as well, enthusiastically explained. “I thought that was real cool. I think [Li and Cun Qi] are brothers.”
Seay said that Keagan has exhibited compassion toward others since he was a small child.
“He’s always been that way,” Seay said. “Don’t get me wrong - he’s all boy. But ever since he was very little he’s been in tune with other people and their feelings. He’s going to grow up to be a good man.”
WEB LINK
www.worldvision.org
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